White Dullahan: Reboot
by Azrael DarkWings
Summary: In the year X780 a new guild was born in Fiore, White Dullahan. Starting out as a small, elite team of only four mages, the guild would first act as the shadowy arm of the Magic Council, dealing with problems too delicate to hand off to regular guilds. But in mid-X783, White Dullahan opened its doors to more mages. Thus beginning adventures of White Dullahan. Discontinued.
1. Prologue: Into the Night

A/N: Well, it's been a while since I made one of these, but I do my best.

Hello folks, it's me, Azrael DarkWings, once again, back with another FanFiction. To whom it may concern, I'm now dropping my old White Dullahan story and rewriting it from the beginning. To be honest, I kinda lost my groove for the old one, and I also found myself unable to balance it properly.

This time around, I'm aiming to up my game, and also publish at least 2 chapters a month from now on.

On my profile, you'll find the new and improved OC Submission form, for those of you who want to send in your OCs both new and old, if you want to resubmit them. Please take note that the story this time starts still in X790, before the Tenroujima Team's return, but White Dullahan will have been founded in X780 this time around, allowing for a better developed feel for the guild. I have my guidelines on my profile, but also note, no god modding or using magics already featured in the manga or anime. Also note, Second Generation Dragon Slayers only, unless you can send me a VERY detailed and Exhaustively well written explanation of how and why.

That out of the way, Disclaimer time~! I own nothing of Fairy Tail nor do I have any connection to Hiro Mashima-Sensei. Please, enjoy.

* * *

Prologue: Night Battle

The midnight watch was the shortest straw that could be drawn, and tonight that duty fell on the shoulders of a young recruit who had joined the Endless Serpent mage guild only three weeks before. The young man was only eighteen years old, but the incentives of easy money and training his magic had enticed him to join. He knew next to nothing about the guild proper, but the recruiter had assured him that the Serpents were a guild with a history pushing a century, and were considered a fine, upstanding guild by the Council, accolades that some other guilds could not boast about.

"Still, guard duty in this weather?" the young man groused drearily as he tightened his dark green slicker around himself for protection from the elements, "Anyone outside in this weather'd have to be off their rocker."

"What'a you moanin' about, kid? This here weather's nothing a'tall compar'd ta some o the stuff I've seen out on de open sea," a rough, dirty looking senior member of the guild lisped to the soaking kid, "If'n ya can't take this lil ol' drizzle, you're sure in fo' a time in the days ta come," the younger boy gave his senior handler an even look as the wind picked up, sending a chill down his spine.

"Seriously?" the kid looked up at the imposing figure of the castle like building to their backs, "just what in Earthland's going on in there?" the older mage shook his head, his soking wet hair sticking to his temples.

"I dunno, kid, but if'n you know what's good fer ya, ya'd bett'r keep yar mouth-"

"Pardon me, gentlemen," a seductive voice suddenly inquired next to the two men, "but would you two mind please letting me share your space? I didn't expect the rain to come down this heavily," both men turned sharply, the elder's hands falling on the hilt of a short sword.

"Who are you?" the young recruit asked quickly, his words tumbling out of his mouth as he thought of them. Then out of the rain materialized a slender, feminine figure with raven black hair. Both men gulped in tandem as they looked over the stunning woman before them. Standing around 5'10", the woman's fair complexion stood out against her dark hair and offset he dark purple eyes. Her figure was wrapped in a soaking wet purple kimono that ended just past her elbows and fell three inches past her knees. Her feet were fitted with a pair of wooden geta sandals and a pair of two toed obi socks. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail that fell down to the middle of her back, giving her an appearance of incredible beauty.

"Just a woman wanting a bit of shelter from the rain, if that's alright," the woman said with a slight slur, as she suddenly slumped against the elder of the two men, giving him a blast of alcohol laced breath. The man smiled wolfishly and then slipped his left arm around her waist, pulling her next to his hip.

"Normally, I'd say no, love. But t'night, I thinks I'll make an accepti'n," he turned, supporting the drunken woman as he unbarred the door to let himself into the warehouse. With a quick, sharp nod of his head, he vanished into the building, closing the door behind him and the woman. Alone now in the rain, the younger man bolted the door again and then pressed himself deeper into the doorway, hoping to gain a little more warmth.

"You'd think that the members of such a long running guild would be more… Respectable. Wouldn't you?" he asked to himself.

"Yeah, you'd think," the young man spun around, but before he could do anything else his world went dark, "Right?" a man with medium length silver hair caught the falling young man and moved him carefully into a nearby alcove, out of the rain and out of sight of the door.

"Please tell me you held back, Tristan-kun," a pair of figures joined the silver haired youth momentarily, as the shorter of the two addressed the younger man. Tristan sighed and brushed his wet hair out of his eyes.

"Yes I held back, Orochi," Tristan gestured with a gloved hand towards the alcove, "the hex will wear off well after we've done our business here; with no side effects." The elder man sighed, his lined face growing softer.

"You know I dislike the usage of Dark Magics, they bring nothing but trouble on those who use them and those who they are cast upon," Orochi lightly laid his hand on the hilt of his sheathed katana for emphasis, "They are a like a blade without a handle, They can still be drawn; but they will hurt both sides if they are used." Tristan gave the 5'6" Orochi an even look, but then gave him a short, but respectful, nod.

"I understand, Orochi. But they're the only magics I can use, and right now, Ageha needs me as a magician, not as another swordsman," the younger man smiled at the shorter man, a twinkling in his eyes, "She's already got you for that," Orochi returned Tristan's grin, his own dark brown eyes showing an inner brilliance.

"At least we have squared that away now," the third man in the group spoke with a deep, rich baritone voice, "Now, Master, isn't it about time you opened that door for us?" The other two men's eyes widened sharply as the woman who had vanished into the warehouse opened the door, her dark purple eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Ara, I thought I'd erased my pretense completely this time around, Aslan," the 7' tall red head with arms as thick as young trees and the shoulders of an ox gave his team's Master a broad smile.

"You most certainly did, Master, but you must remember that I come from a place where one small lapse in perception can mean the difference between life and death," Ageha rubbed her forehead in response, groaning as she did so.

"I must be getting old; I'd forgotten," none of the men said a word in response, causing Ageha to fix them all with an evil glare, "I didn't expect anyone to say anything, so I'll say this too follow that up, let's go. We've got some snakes to crush."

"Roger that, Ageha," Tristan responded, as he, Orochi and Aslan followed Ageha into the warehouse. As they passed through the doorway, Tristan noticed the motionless body of the man who had allowed Ageha into the building, "Dead or alive?" he asked quietly, as the foursome entered into an area marked with a sign read, 'Tradesmen and Dealers Only.' Without turning around, Ageha answered the question in an off handed manner.

"Dead. Heart attack," Orochi sighed faintly, but none of them questioned Ageha's manner of handling 'hostiles' in the field. The team's job this time around was to prevent a black market operation being handled by the Endless Serpents Guild. As such, any and all people's met in this place, with the exception of the sole boy outside and any human merchandise recovered would more then likely be killed. The date, January 10th, X782. The port town of Hargeon lay to their current position's north and west, far enough away to be unnoticed by the average person, but difficult enough to support an armed raid again.

Enter the four members of the Guild White Dullahan, formed in February of X780, the tiny guild's record was to the public eye sparse and limited, but to those with the proper level of authority, they were a group that dealt with 'issues of a sensitive nature.' Garbage men, cleaners, they had once even been called bounty hunters. But at their core, the group acted on behalf of the Magic Council in exchange for certain favors and liberties, including a very rare 'right to engage other guilds as they see fit.'

"Because of last week's kidnapping spree in Hargeon and the surrounding area, we get called in like a group of dogs," Aslan muttered to himself darkly. Tristan patted the larger man on the arm with a friendly word.

"Still, with this, none of us have to spend our days in a prison cell or on some scientists table. Besides," the silver haired man gave Aslan a grin, "I get to have a place in this unknown world, Orochi doesn't have to be alone, Ageha can atone for her sins and you," he motioned towards Aslan's flaming red hair, "No longer have to carry the Crown of Guilt," the red head's shoulders relaxed slightly at his team mate's word.

"Thank you, Tristan," a feeble smile played around the edges of Aslan's mouth. Tristan grinned in return.

"You're very welcome."

* * *

The floor space of the warehouse's lowest level had been converted from another storage room into a massive stage that covered the entire length of the room and a third of its depth. The remaining two thirds of floor space had then been turned into a cross between a theater and a dinning hall, allowing the rich and influential members of the underworld to seat as they pleased while the auction and other events proceeded. Around a hundred people had turned out tonight, but they were only fronts for their benefactors, as the merchandise tonight had been of an extremely dangerous kind, in the sense that once again, they were selling illegal magical artifacts.

The proceedings had started three hours before, with the items revealed ranging from a variety of enchanted weapons to a particularly dangerous, and previously thought destroyed, magic tome. But now, the main event had finally been reached; and the star of tonight's show was about to be unveiled. "Just look at them, Tralark. This may seem like a small crowd tonight, but they've been meticulously selected from our records as the very best customers and most effective managers." An old man with a thick white mustache and a balding head of hair of the same color said to another, much younger man, causing a smile to spread across his handsome face.

"Thank you, Mr. Sullivan." His words were short and crisp, coming off with a refined air that made most men feel small. Tralark Travellion was a man of some twenty-three years old, with short cut black hair that framed a fair skinned face with a small nose and a firm chin. A beauty mark lay just below the corner of his left eye, which matched the right with an iris of bright orange. Tralark was clothed in a fashionable suit of black cloth with a simple design that easily draw attention away from him, contrasting his otherwise remarkable appearance. His body was neither a mass of muscles nor a pile of bones covered by skin, giving him an unremarkable, 6' build that could vanish into any crowd with ease.

"No, I must thank you, Sir," the older Sullivan bowed deeply at the waist, "for it is due to your most esteemed self that we have the jewel of tonight's show to reveal to our most influential benefactors." Tralark smiled smugly as the old man wrang his limited vocabulary in a vain effort to show his gratitude.

 _'A simpleton at best, but he does have connection to the Serpents, a **very** nice looking pawn,'_ Tralark thought to himself. Then he sensed a shifting in the tensions of the crowd beyond the stage lights, as all one hundred representatives took their seats and fell silent in the span of less then a second. "Sounds like the buyers are read, Mr. Sullivan. Shall we get this final act started?"

"Any idea how to handle this situation, Ageha?" Tristan's voice barely registered above a whisper, but Orochi and Aslan could also hear him, as they held back just within the shadows of the dinning hall.

"The Council wants us to take as many of the people here alive as possible, but I don't think any of those dusty relics realize just how big these operations can get." She cast a morose look over to her team mates, "I'm just glad that this is a small crowd. Usually they have at least three times this number." Aslan's teeth ground together at the thought of an even larger crowd, but before he could rise Orochi gently put his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"That's why the Council allowed our group to be formed, Aslan-kun. So that things such as this could be stopped by a properly equipped force. That's what we Dullahans do, we judge those who cannot be judged by the laws of normal world." The large red head's anger remained, but instead of raging like a fire it calmed and grew deeper like an ocean.

"I hear you, Orochi-san. But still, I feel my old ways calling out for blood." Tristan grinned at Aslan's words, as a very dangerous idea came to his mind.

"Ageha, want to try a plan with a little more flare to it? This is, after all," he broadly motioned to the space around them, "a theater." A devilish gleam appeared in Ageha's eyes as Tristan outlined his plan, and within moments the four Dullahan's were on their way towards their positions, each of them holding radically different feelings in their hearts.

The first carried the desire to pay back a small potion of the debt a life time of evil had piled up.

The second hoped to find a place to rest from the storms of the world and a home to be a part of.

The third wished to end the world of pain hidden in the dark corners of the earth.

And the fourth wished for nothing more then to guide the other way along the path they had chosen to follow.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight's final lot has come up, and even I must admit that the nature of our final performance is beyond compare to any of our other items this evening!" Sullivan trumpeted with fanfare and gusto through the lacrima to the proxies, some of them being joined now by their masters and mistresses through specialized one way viewing lacrima viewers of their own, "Tonight, I, Willard Alfred Sullivan, present to you the flower of artificial magician research, lot number 272, Experiment S-15!"

With a majestic flourish that wouldn't seem out of place in a three ring circus, Sullivan moved to the crowd's right and then the heavy purple curtains drew back, revealing a black haired girl, encased in a large lacrima, whose physical appearance could only be described as beautiful. From her high cheek bones and small, thin nose down to her barely showing chest, the girl's doll like beauty was only magnified by her porcelain white skin. He slender frame was clothed only by a simple white slip that left her shoulders bare and fell to just above the middle of her knees. Around her slender neck was a black leather Lollard, which on closer inspection would be found to be enchanted with two spells: one for keeping its wearer docile and the second one for giving the wearer commands. A slavery choker.

"This stunning piece of research sums up the entirety of the efforts of our very own Endless Serpent's artificial magician production research," Sullivan grandly gestured to a series of Archive magic screens that appeared all over the stage, drawing the attention of every bidder in the house, "The package includes all of the relevant data relating to S-15 here, along with all of the necessary research equipment and basic necessity equipment for its care," Suddenly Sullivan's voice grew lower, as if talking confidentially, "But that isn't all, dear customers. Along with this magnificent specimen, tonight's final lot includes this!" With another broad flourish of his skinny arms, the old man drew everyone's to a devilishly dressed statue of a woman which held a long spear in its arms, "This spear is something very special to the research division of the Serpents; the first ever successfully made artificial Cursed Armament: the demonic lance of the Sixth, Epithymó," he declared as the room went still, as the name of the lance echoed in the now dead air.

"Party's over, people. Time for a curtain call," the words were spoken calmly, but with a deep seated anger that caused Sullivan and all of the others present to tremble like leaves in the middle of a storm, "Because the Dullahans are here."

With those words, Tristan Argent appeared on the stage from the left side, a naked, black long sword in his right hand. The were flecks of blood on his dark blue shirt and black paints, and a pair of long, black gloves covered his arms from hands to half way between his elbows and his shoulders.

"Growl, Byakkomaru," a second, feminine, voice sounded out from stage right, as Ageha Kurogane appeared, drawing a two and a half foot long katana from an ornate blue and silver scabbard. As she did so, a flickering, almost fluid, image of an enormous white tiger stalked behind her, giving the appearance of a mistress being followed by her pet, "For tonight you shall feast."

"Within a world of perfect form comes silence, as there comes no more need of conflict," the third Dullahan appeared next to the ornate doors that led to the main entrance of the auction house.

The tensions from within the crowd grew palpable, as several of the formerly greedy bidders found themselves suddenly on a block all their own, a chopping block. "Now, shall we settle this peacefully, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" Orochi Kirimaru question as her old, yet steady voice seemed to break the spell holding the crowd of bidders in their positions, and their security details in reserve; for as his voice died away, the hall transformed from a place of silence into a hellish display of raw human emotions and instincts.

"Security, seize these fools at once!" Sullivan's voice rose with a shriek, galvanizing the nearby male and female security members to rush at the three Dullahans, "Kill them if you must!" he shouted as a smug grin played across Ageha's lips as the first man rushed her, swinging a massive hammer.

"You think your little show's going to scare us? We're professionals!" he roared stoutly, as he swung the hammer above his head in a great arc.

"Ara, what a coincidence," with an almost casual swipe of her own, Ageha's Byakkomaru cut through the hammer's handle just beneath the head, "I'm a professional too," Unable to regain his balance due to a sudden shift in his timing, the towering security man stumbled towards Ageha with a growl of anger in his voice.

"Don't look down on me!" he shouted as he adjusted as best he could, the man attempted to knock Ageha off balance with a vicious tackle, but instead he suddenly found himself flying through the air and landing on top of several of the auction attendees. Ageha had, upon deciding to not harm the man, allowed herself to fall backwards and then had, as the man passed over her, unleashed her leg upward in a powerful double kick that lobbed him out and into the crowd. From her position on the floor, Ageha used her generated momentum to right herself with the grace of a cat, before turning her eyes on the rest of the security members in front of her.

Meanwhile, Orochi had complete checked the flow of people towards the original exit. With his left hand resting lightly on the handle of his own katana, and his own silent anger projected around him like a pool of water, none dared get close to him. So instead the security members who had magic attempted to break his guard with a barrage of ranged attacks.

"Fire Javelin!"

"Stalactite Rain!"

"Wind Blade!"

"Aqua Cutter!"

One after the other the spells flew towards Orochi like a cloud of locusts upon ripening field. But the swordsman's eyes remained closer, even as he drew his sword with a speed equaling that of lightening.

"Mist Dragon Style First Art: Jinsokuna Tsubasa (Swift Wing)," the name was nearly unspoken, but those who heard it saw their spells suddenly cut in two, before the magic itself dissipated like mist. With his eyes still closed, Orochi's voice echoed through the minds and hearts of those within ear range, "If any of you attempt such a foolish action again, my next strike shall take away something more then just your feeble pride," the crowd around Orochi froze in place, as they realized that the man before them may as well have been a wall of solid stone; he wasn't going to be moved by anything less then a person of equal or greater resolve, and the power to back that resolve.

"DIE!" the single word punctuated the air as several half angry and half frightened security detail members rushed towards Tristan, who merely seemed to flutter like a leaf in the wind, causing every attack, either physical or magical, to miss him by hair's breath. One young man in particular seemed incensed by the thought of being the one to strike Tristan down.

"I'm going to to put you down and then use your skull as a goblet at my promotion celebration!" Tristan's face remained impassive at the brutal words, as he lightly sidestepped the man's vicious, magically charged punch that upon hitting the floor of the stage busted a hole right through the six inch thick wood.

"Now if your mother could hear you now, what do you think she'd say to that?" Tristan asked blithely, which caused his opponent to howl in fury.

"Ya leave ma outa thi-gaha..." the security detail member's words were cut short as darkness filled him mind, as if someone had thrown a bucket of water over a fire. The young man's body hit the floor heavily, like a puppet with its strings cut. Tristan cast a bored eye over the man's body, and then turned back to the others, who were slowly beginning to back away.

"Now, anyone else feel like using my skull as a goblet?" the room seemed to cool down, as those trapped within felt the overwhelming strength of the Dullahans. None of the trio were even properly fighting with magic, apart from Tristan's usage of hexes, and that knowledge only chilled the hearts of the already terrified auction attendees.

* * *

Meanwhile Sullivan, with his tail between his legs, had fled beneath the stage with S-15. The girl was still contained in the lacrima, and although this made running away with any amount of haste difficult, Sullivan was still making very good time. Having decided to abandon the venue, the little man had decided to take with him only the most valuable items of the night, the lacrima encased S-15, a few rare tomes and the lance included in S-15's lot, Epithymó, "Although I hate to leave behind such a suitable site like this, with our location exposed it means nothing," he cast a greedy eye over to the lacrima encased form of S-15 and the lance, suspended mid-air by his own Telekinesis magic, "But these two piece can easily set me up with another location, and the advance payments from the attendees have also been transferred to my account, although that amounts to nothing more then a pittance compared to this beauty."

"My my, getting attached to your merchandise are we, Sullivan?" the old man froze mid-step as Tralark Travellion appeared from around the next bend of the tunnel. Sullivan's heart began pounding furiously and his palms grew sweaty as he looked into Tralark's bright orange eyes, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that it looked like you were trying to escape," Sullivan back pedaled towards the lacrima encased S-15, an odd mixture of fear and greed on his face.

"You know, Mr. Travellion, once the merchandise is in the hands of the auction house, the unspoken rule is that you cannot regain the items without first filing the proper paperwork and then paying the handling fees and whatever other expenses have been accumulated," as he spoke, Sullivan slowly inched his left hand towards his hip, where, just beneath his coat, a magic sidearm sat snugly in its holster, "As such, I am taking what ever funds I can from this venture and will use all of my other resources in order to re-establish the Auction with all possible haste," Sullivan's hand was almost to the grip of his weapon when Travellion's lips parted with a frightening grin.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Sullivan," he stated as he advanced like a cat towards a cowering mouse, "That the Endless Serpent's affiliation with you ends tonight."

With a speed born of desperation, Sullivan drew his magic gun in a flash and pulled the trigger as he cleared leather, "NEVER!" he shouted, as Tralark Travellion's head snapped back and a spray of dark red blood splattered across the wall behind him. Mindlessly, Sullivan kept pulling the trigger, causing Travellion's body to shudder and shake as bullet after bullet slammed into the now lifeless shell. Once the clip in his weapon was empty, Sullivan ejected the spent clip, rammed a fresh one home, and once again began his flight into the tunnels. After several minutes of continual sprinting, the elder man's leg felt like rubber, but he continued onward, thoughts of Tralark's lifeless body filling his mind, "Maybe I shouldn't have shot him," the older man mused, as he turned the second to last corner before the emergency escape area, "No, he would have killed me otherwise! I must live on, for my ambi-ugh!" Sullivan went sprawling as his legs seemed to miss the floor. He couldn't understand what had happened, "How could I have-! Ahhh!" a long, guttural cry burst from his throat, as he saw that his legs were behind him, severed at the hips.

"Now that wasn't very kind of you, Mr. Sullivan," a cold, murderous voice softly purred, as its owner stepped into the life, his handsome face marred with a gaping wound in the left side of his head, "Why did you, a single pebble on the side of the road, even attempt to injure me?" there was an odd mixture of rebuke mixed into Tralark's voice, as if Sullivan were a child who had spilled juice on Tralack's pants, "Can you tell me that?" Sullivan trembled furiously, as his brain lit up with signals of pain from his severed legs.

"How are you still alive?" he feebly managed to ask, as Travellion closed in on him like a hawk towards a rabbit. A playful smile appeared on the young man's lips as he responded to Sullivan's words.

"Because I wished to never die," then, with an expression of boredom on his face, Travellion's right fist decended upon Sullivan, turning the older man's body into a massive splatter pattern that covered the tunnel wall beside him. Afterward, Travellion turned to the lacrima encased body of S-15 and smiled, "Now, to leave with yo-hm?" the sound of fighting reached Tralark's ears just before he could touch the lacrima. From the angry shouts and surging of magical energies, Travellion could sense that the Dullahan's had at least one more member fighting in even this difficult to reach part of the facility, "Goodness, it sounds like a real monster's having its way with the saps left in there, doesn't it my dear?" Tralack's words fell on deaf ears, and a frown formed on his lips, "It seems that I shall not be able to get out of this mess with you in tow, my dear, so I'm afraid, I'll have to leave you behind. However," he paused, another smile playing across his lips, "I shall return for you, someday. But for now, goodbye."

* * *

Two hours later, a detachment of Rune Knights arrived and took possession of the captured auction attendees and security members. Sullivan's blood stain had been found by Aslan, along with the lacrima encased girl, but the lance listed in the lot with her, and the items taken by Sullivan himself, were nowhere to be found, "Chalk it up to either a very well played robbery or to a mistake in the records, but I don't think you're going to be finding any of those items any time soon, Captain Reeves," Ageha Kurogane sighed as she and her Dullahan's reported their findings to the leader of the Rune Knights. A grizzled veteran with over two decades of active service to the Council, Jonathan Reeves was both a highly skilled mage and an even more competent leader.

"I understand, Kurogane, but that doesn't make me feel any better," the salt and pepper haired forty year old groused, "You're not the one who has to explain that to a bunch of desk jockeys and stiff necked old codgers who get into arguments over how to treat a couple of Legal guilds who've been horsing around too much, instead of how to deal with groups like this..." Reeves brought one weather tanned hand to his face and mopped it with a clean, light blue handkerchief. Ageha smiled sarcastically at his words.

"Ara, but I though that was the life you wanted, one with a steady pay check and no more adventures," Reeves glared at Ageha but held his tongue, "Anyways," Ageha continued with a sharp glint in her purple eyes, "I'm here to confirm the transfer of funds this time around."

Outside the now cordoned off facade warehouse, Tristan, Orochi and Aslan watched silently as the Rune Knights booked and then shipped off the prisoners. Aslan's fists were covered in scratches and his left hand now sported an ugly, but superficial, burn wound. Orochi skillfully wound a few layers of clean gauze over the wound along with some medicinal ointment. The old man's tanned face cracked into a warm smile as he finished up. "There you go, Aslan-kun. But next time, make sure that your opponents have all been properly dealt with before you turn your back on them." Aslan grimaced at Orochi's harsh, yet well meaning words as he nodded his shaggy mane of red hair.

"Yes, Kirimaru-san." Orochi nodded smartly, and then turned to Tristan, who was in the middle of fixing his own set of bandages on his arms.

"And you, Tristan-kun, would you please try and take this business more seriously? You could have gotten very severely injured tonight." Tristan merely shrugged his shoulders offhandedly and made his way over to the lacrima encased girl Aslan had found next to the blood stain confirmed as the only remains of Willard Alfred Sullivan. "Please don't ignore me!" Orochi shouted, as Tristan ran a hand over one of the smooth facets of the lacrima.

"Hey, Orochi, Aslan, do we have any idea who this girl is?" Orochi was still fuming at Tristan and turned sharply on a heel before making his way towards the head quarters tent, while Aslan joined Tristan next to the lacrima.

"I'm afraid not, other then the fact that she was a late addition, directly from someone listed only as T.T. in the ledgers..." The large man fell silent as he looked upon the form of the girl, a faint sadness welling up in his heart. "Do you think that the Council will be able to get this girl out of her prison?" Tristan's eye turned to face Aslan, who he could tell empathized with the entombed girl. A playful glimmer sparkled in his dark blue eyes as he responded with a grin.

"With all the cutting edge tech those guys have lying around, I'd bet they can." As he smacked his large companion on the side, Tristan's feet slid out from under him, causing him to fall against the lacrima with a startled yelp.

"Tristan-kun are you alri-what?" The big man's voice rose in pitch as he witnessed the lacrima crystal around the girl spider web with cracks and then completely shatter, causing the girl to fall into his reflexively outstretched arms. "So light..." He said quietly to himself, as several Rune Knights feel in around the threesome.

"What the! How did you break that lacrima, Argent?" One of the Knights asked in surprise, "Our equipment measured this stuff's density as on par with diamond!" At a lose, Tristan could only shrug helplessly as the Rune Knights asked him question one atop another.

From the headquarters tent, Ageha and Reeves could hear the commotion, and were quickly draw out and over to the scene, which left Reeves with his mouth agape and Ageha with a troubled look on her face. "This is certainly unexpected." Without turning to the Rune Knight Captain, Ageha offered him a lifeline, "Do you want to let us Dullahan's handle this girl, Jonathan?" Reeves quickly recovered and scowled gloomily.

"I'd rather not leave such a young child with a group like yours, no offense Ageha, but the uproar she would likely cause is even worst then I can even Imagine. So please do..." Reeves trailed off as he realized the implication of his words, but he didn't have the heart to retract his words, as he watched Ageha gently take the smaller girl from Aslan's awkward arms and then wander off into the night, followed closely behind by Orochi, who was saliently attempting to dissuade his Master from the 'incomprehensible notion of taking care of a child along with establishing a respectable guild.' Aslan trailed behind the pair, the girl taking up the entirety of his conscious thoughts. Only Tristan remained behind, watching his guild mates fading off into the night, "Shouldn't you be following after them, Argent?"

"Jon, is it really okay for us, a group of irregulars under contract to the Magic Council, to be handling the welfare of a child like that?" Tristan's words voiced the one question that Jon had not wanted to answer, but he knew that he'd have too, if only to convince himself and not the silver haired fighter before him.

"Honestly? The answer is no, the four of you are not. Ageha's the former number one assassin from the Endless Serpent guild, and she's wanted in pretty much every country besides Fiore. If she were to cross a national border, she'd be tried and executed without as much as a second thought," Jon rubbed his temples before continuing, "And don't even get me started on Aslan. We don't have any records on that guy and anything related to his existence is kept under lock and key. If I ask anything remotely relating to him, all I get is a stiff rebuke to not ask again. All I have are three words, 'Crown of Guilt.'" Jon cast an even look over to Tristan, "I'll bet my next years pay you know what's going on, but you'll never tell me, right?" Tristan nodded in response.

"Until Aslan is ready, my lips are sealed," he said as Jon sighed heavily.

"I expected as much, and I've got even less on Kirimaru. The guy's a one armed death machine with that sword of his, but I've got nothing on him at all."

"You've got that right," Tristan chuckled in response, "And I'd be willing to bet that he's got the most dangerous sword style out of all of us, even more so then Ageha," Jon leveled a sharp look at the sheathed sword on Tristan's back thoughtfully.

"Then last but not least is you, the silver haired sword wielder who fights who uses a freaky kind of curse-like black magic that steals away the strength and will to fight from those around you," Jon fixed Tristan with a critical look, "Do you have any idea how much we're spending to take care of the people you've 'hexed' over the past few years? I swear, we're getting so crowded that there has been talk of opening an asylum for all of the patients..." Jon trailed off as a minor headache caused his temples to throb, "By the lord harry, I'd swear that the lot of you are going to be the worst parents in history, if any one of you can find a suitable mate even," Tristan grinned at Jon, and then began to walk away into the pitch darkness of the night.

"If it makes you feel any better, Jon, if this fails, you and Kendra are going to have to adopt this one along with your own two little ones," before Reeves could retort, Tristan's silver head had vanished into that shadow, as if he himself were a shadow. Sighing again, Reeves took out an old pipe and lit up, taking a long, deep puff to calm his nerves.

"Even if you tried to fail at taking care of that kid, I doubt you could do it, Tristan," Jon said quietly to himself, as one of his men drew near to him, a sheaf of papers in his hands, "Because every time I look at you Dullahan's, even if you're in the middle of a battle, I feel, deep down, that you four are some of the best people I've ever met, and that the monstrous powers you carry are only there for one reason: to put an end to the darkness of this world.

* * *

Ending A/N: Whew, that was a lot longer then I expected, but it felt good to write like this after so long.

Hello, honored guests, my name is Azrael DarkWings, and this is my glorious comeback. After failing to preform for so long, I hope that you folks have enjoyed this piece, and will come back again for the next chapter.

For those of you asking questions: this time around, White Dullahan was founded in X780, and will be accepting characters as of mid-X783. Yes, in this case, S-15 is going to be the reason why they start accepting more members, but beyond that, my lips are sealed.

If you want to submit an OC, or resubmit an old one, please go over to my Profile and use the sheet there. Please note: I'm adding one more section in the XXX/100 part, Magical reserves. The idea for this came from another fanfiction, the name escapes me, but thanks for the idea. Magic reserves would translate into how much magical energy a character has, like your MP gauge for those of you who play rpgs, Final Fan*asy anyone?

Anyways: one of the biggest factors this time around is also going to be age, as I don't want to wind up with a guild full of kids. So don't make your characters too young, otherwise I will not accept them. At this time, I have received three guild members besides the ones here, all of whom are made by me, with a few others on the way. In order to keep this momentum going, I'm going to ask that you folks allow me 1-2 weeks worth of time to make the next chapter, more likely 2, so as to buff up my character count.

Other rules for Ocs, only two, possibly even only one Slayer will be accepted, and even then Dragon Slayer, due to Canon, are going to have to be Second Generation, aka artificial, Slayers, unless you give me one hell of a detailed back story. ManhattenProject, I'm looking at you. D.A. was just about perfect in that regard.

Goodness, in regards to current word count, I've almost hit 7000 for this chapter at this point! When did this happen?!

Anyhow, thanks for reading this, all you beautiful folks out there. Please come back again, as the story of the guild White Dullahan takes off to newer and higher heights then it previously did.

P.S. **Major Notice: If you do not send me your OC via PM, I will not even look at them. No characters from the comments section ever again.**

 **And with that, I'm signing off for the night. I'll have this chapter up, as I hoped, before the month changes, and I'll do a much better job this time around. So I swear upon my honor as a writer and as a package** **handler.** **Please 'Follow' if you liked the story and 'Comment' on what you liked and, hopefully not, disliked about the story so far.** **I'll be shouting out to, hopefully, a few of you commentators at the start of the next chapter, and I hope to deliver a good time to you lovers of Fairy Tail, just as much as I enjoy writing it.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Castle on the Mountain

A/N: Welcome back once again folks, Azrael-kun here. With the fairly positive reaction from the new White Dullahan's prologue, I'm happy to say I've found my writing ability to be in fine shape once again. That why I've decided to start writing the next chapter so soon, to get this story off the ground and flying ASAP.

Note for OCs: Please look at my Profile for submission details, as that's going to be the most reliable source of information on the subject.

Anyways, I said I'd respond to reviews in the A/N this time around, and I'll try and stick to that, provided you give me enough info to respond to.

Trappedindarkness13- Thanks for the compliment. Now to become an active, and hopefully consistent, writer on this site.

RavensWorld- Yup, the wait is over, and I have returned. Cue dramatic music. Sorry, I've always wanted to say that.

Kaneki Ken – Half Ghoul- Yeah, I've come to realize, with some help from my good friend and editor Dreadburner, that you need a fairly detailed template to get a better base for your characters. This helps me get a better idea of how the creator wants their character presented, and also cuts down on the amount of time playing tag through the PM function on the site.

With that completed, I have a quick character update. In this chapter, I'm going to be introducing three more members of White Dullahan. They constitute almost the entirety of the characters I've received by this point. I guess that means I'm going to have to beef up my words count in order to get a few more of you to send in characters. Submissions will be open until I hit a number of members that I believe fits the nature of the guild, and give me a variety of personalities to work with.

Final Note: The Classification line on the OC form is for their ranking as a mage, S Rank being the monsters we all know and love like Erza and Gildarts. If you think you want to make a contender for the three S class places in White Dullahan, there are a few rules for that:

1: Must be at least 20-25 years old. I will accept a younger genius for one of them, but they're going to have to be very well written.

2: They must have been a member of White Dullahan for at least two to three years before they can attempt the S Class Exam, something I'm going to be holding again in either the third or fourth arc of the story.

3: Do Not God Mod. Follow the template, and also be open for dialogue with me in order to iron out any kinks in the character you have sent me.

Now, with that public service announcement done, let's get to it!

Chapter 1: White Dullahan

March 1st, X790. Rindou Town, east of Crocus.

The eight years after the battle near Hargeon found the White Dullahan guild in possession of a guild building of their own near the mountains east of Crocus. As a reward for their services regarding the Endless Serpent guild among other things, the original four members moved away from Crocus, and by extension the Magic Council, in order to settle down in order to become a proper guild.

Their first order of business included assisting their new base town of Rindou in defeating and capturing an extension of the Endless Serpent guild, who had been using the town as a launch point for illegal narcotics and magic items into Crocus, sometimes even selling their stock in bulk to legal guilds seeking fame in the Grand Magic Games. Due to the possibility of embarrassment for several otherwise prominent guilds, the Magic Council decided to cut the investigation off at the dark guilds and then merely ban the guilds who had participated in the dealings for a year. Disgusted by the lack of stern punishment, Ageha had given the Magic Council White Dullahan's letter of resignation as their Special Unit, effective immediately. Although some of the Council member's had scrambled to regain the guild's good grace's, Ageha's stand had been as solid as the mountains themselves.

Afterward, the founding Dullahans had settled down among the lower peaks above Rindou in an old castle that they had been given by the town as a sign of thanks. Originally, the castle had been the town's last line of defense, but in decades past the upkeep had become far too arduous for the younger citizen's of Rindou, who had the strength necessary to preform the maintenance, and thus the castle had been left behind.

Unperturbed by the enormity of the challenge, Ageha, Aslan, Orochi and Tristan worked together and, with a little help from the older citizens of Rindou, the four mages successfully restored the castle to its former glory within two months time. The exterior of the castle was redone with solid, grey granite that caused to structure to be rendered almost invisible to the town during good conditions, and caused it to be all but invisible at night or during the occasional rain storm. The sole addition to the castle were a pair of flag pools that rose twenty feet above the ramparts of the castle road facing wall, each one bearing an identical White Dullahan flag, a symbol of a headless suit of armor in white, outlined in black, on a field of dark blue.

Past the main double gates lay a sprawling court yard that the four founders had converted into a training area/exhibition ring. At the present, two swordsmen faced off with each other, their faces glistening with sweat.

"Good tempo, Nero," Tristan Argent breathed heavily, as he fixed his posture once again, "You've got me on the ropes over here," he said as the dark haired Nero returned Tristan's grin with one of his own.

"The same for me, Tristan," Nero breathed heavily as well, his own sword gripped firmly with both hands. The two men had developed an interesting relationship over the course of Nero's five years in White Dullahan. Although he possessed no magic, Nero's swordsmanship was top class, and besides his almost inhuman level of technique, Nero also possessed a level of physical strength that could force Aslan to fight seriously, "Even if you're only self taught, you're not an opponent I can relax against," the dark haired twenty-five year's crimson red eyes gleamed as he charged once again, bringing his sword high for a crushing blow.

"Nice one!" Tristan grunted as he revered his grip on his sword, holding the blade perpendicular to his right arm and deflecting Nero's blow towards the ground.

"Like I'd allow that!" with a sharp grunt of exertion, Nero sweat his left leg forward and planted it firmly to the earth, as he altered the trajectory of his sword away from the grown into a horizontal slash towards Tristan's exposed right side.

"Seriously?!" Tristan yelped as he preformed a bridge, which caused Nero's sword to hiss dangerously over him by no more then a hair's breath, "You're wide open!" without leaving his precarious position, Tristan instead released his grip on his sword and launched a low kick into Nero's shins, causing him to lose his balance. Using the same motion, Tristan leaped lightly to his feet and unleashed a powerful double upper cut towards Nero's exposed throat and chin, "Match over," he stated as Nero released his own sword and held up his hands in surrender.

"Yeah, match over," Nero sighed before a big grin was plastered over his face as he admitted his defeat, "I should have seen that coming," Tristan returned Nero's honest grin with one of his own.

"I can't beat a true swordsman in an outright fight, so I improvise. It may seem like cheating, but that's the style I've come to use," Tristan explained as the two men shook hands and with their blades on the ground around them, the image was an interesting one. Tristan's garb gave him an appearance similar to an acrobat or a performer, with his tight blue sleeveless shirt, black shorts and black combat boots, while Nero gave off the impression of a knight, with his blue gambeson, dark pants and boots.

"I won't hold it against you, but for the record, I'm still ahead, 226 to 114 at present, with 47 draws," Nero boasted as a glum look pasted over Tristan's face.

"I swear that you're a genius at keeping track of these matches. Stubborn too, I can't even get you to shift some of your wins to the draw column," Tristan sighed as Nero laughed and smacked Tristan on the back with his left hand.

"Well, in any case, today's your win so the refreshments are on me," As the words left Nero's mouth, the two men made their way towards the guild's dinning hall and bar area. "I wonder who's on duty right now?"

*-*-*-*-*-*

Besides the hall area of the castle, which had been converted during the modeling process into a combination of a drinking hall and indoors training space, a sprawling catacomb-like series of tunnels had been also carved deep into the mountains themselves. Within this space was where Ageha Kurogane kept her office, a simple affair of an office space no more then twenty feet by fifteen. Those who entered the space would usually feel like they were entering a prison cell, and this was the feeling Ageha desired, along with the fact that, at least to Ageha, it helped her do her necessary duty as a guild Master more efficiently. From the only comfortable piece of furniture in the room, a large, overstuffed chair, Ageha stretched back luxuriously like a cat and cracked her neck.

"So much work done, and yet the pile never seems to get any smaller," the dark haired Master groaned to herself, as she surveyed the expanse of her desk top, which was covered by at least a solid inch of papers. Ageha rubbed the bridge of her nose as she stood up from her chair and walked around the desk and over to one of her bookshelves, "Just a little break to recharge myself," she rationalized, "I will not get lost this time!" but just as Ageha put her hand on the spine of her desired target, Aslan Miles Kain, one of White Dullahan's other founders entered the brightly lit room bearing a silver tray that held a brown, earthenware teapot and a pair of simple, dark brown cups of the same material. The seven foot tall, crimson haired mage took one look at the guilty look on Ageha's face and then shook his head with a small chuckle.

"I know that paperwork is most certainly not one of your favorite things to do, Master," he said slowly, as he put the trap down on the one clear space on the desk and poured the tea with a deftness that belied his massive frame, "But you are the one who volunteered to become the Master when we five settled here," Ageha frowned deeply, as she begrudgingly accepted the cup of warm green tea from Aslan.

"If I'd known that there would be this much desk work involved with our kind of operation, I would never have ever even dreamed of settling down," Ageha moaned, as she took a sip of her tea. Aslan merely smiled back at his Master and then picked up his own cup of tea, draining all but the dregs in the cup with a single sip.

"Not even for Tohka's sake?" the question was an unfair one, even by Ageha's standards, but the name of the guild's 'first member' softened the glum look on her face instantly.

"That's a low blow to any one of us four founders, Aslan. You haven't been taking a page out of Tristan's book lately, have you?" she asked as the corners of Ageha's mouth turned up slightly in a manner like a smile, but seemingly stopped halfway. Aslan shook his great head in response, as he replaced his cup on the tea tray.

"No, but I do sometimes find myself following his lead," although short, Aslan's response summed up the feelings in his heart, "He truly is a man worthy to have been the first member recruited by you, Master," Ageha's face seemed to waver a moment before she responded with a halfhearted nod.

"You're half right Aslan, but at the same time, that enigmatic Dullahan of ours basically tied himself to me when we first met, not the other way around," a surprisingly soft look filled Ageha's eyes as she spoke of Tristan, and Aslan could tell that the original two were uniquely bonded.

"If I were an outsider looking at you right now, Master, I would say you were like a maiden in love," Aslan's honest words caused a small smile to appear at the corners of Ageha mouth.

"It's not like that at all, Aslan," Ageha responded softly, as she sat down once again behind her desk and started to preform her guild Master duties once again, "and I don't think that either of us are in any sort of place to be in a relationship anyways," Ageha's voice dropped low as she began to read a fairly long winded missive about some form of damage done by some of her guild's members, "Are Kisara and Jinx back from their missions yet?" she asked offhandedly, just before Aslan passed through the doorway again. The big man paused for a moment before responding with an affirmative grunt.

"Kisara-san successfully completed her subjugation as requested, although she also caused some fairly costly property damage that cuts into her reward fairly heavily," Ageha sighed and glared at the stack of papers in front of her.

"So I'm betting that there's going to be another batch of papers for me to fill out again, on top of this mess," Aslan silently nodded, "What about Jinx?" Ageha continued.

"Jinx-chan also managed to complete her mission in Rindou, and the pet in question was returned to its owner without a hitch," Ageha's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I guess that local missions really are going to be our bread and butter for that girl, aren't they," Aslan nodded sagely.

"Considering our relative nature as being off the beaten path, it's very easy to keep ourselves away from any possible rumors of her brother. Speaking of which, Master, have their been any updates on our search for Raven Akuma?" Ageha shook her head, and then looked down at her papers once again.

"I'll keep you posted, Aslan, but don't expect much. Most of our information network is dedicated to following after the scent of the Serpents, so we don't have that many assets to spare right now," Aslan sighed as he passed through the door, and Ageha's ever sharp ears picked up his last words as he did so.

"Well, at least I managed to avoid Tohka's snacks this time around," Ageha's eyes shut in an instant as she suddenly felt herself feeling strangely religious.

"Thank you, Aslan. Even though we took her in eight years ago, that child's cooking sense can still only be described as horrific."

Kisara Bladefield entered the guild's main dinning hall, which had remained mostly unchanged in appearance and function after the first remodeling. The 5'5", tan skinned nineteen year old had just wrapped up a fairly frustrating mission that had asked her to capture a group of low level drug handlers. Even though they had resisted quite energetically, the young woman's magic had proven to be a little too hard for them to handle. Taking her usual seat at the bar Kisara flipped her long, shaggy purple hair in a motion that cause the long locks to flow like water down her back. Kisara's clothing consisted of a pair of black, baggy shorts and a short, red short top. Her stomach, legs and arms were revealed by the outfit, which gave most people an opinion that she was a 'loose' woman. "Got anything strong back there, Orochi?" the older man, dressed in an immaculate white dress shirt and black pants turned, his empty, tied off right sleeve trailing behind him.

"For no one but you, Ms. Bladefield," the white haired Orochi deftly snagged a glass from the rack in front of him, and turned with the sharp, well polished movements of a professional bartender. With deft hand movement, he filled the glass with a rich amber colored whiskey and slid the glass over to the attentive Kisara, "Please, enjoy this one on the house," the young woman was dumbfounded for a moment, having expected Orochi to refuse her alcohol this early in the day, the sun having just reached in apex. But, being as seasoned a hunter as she was, Kisara fixed Orochi with a withering look.

"Is there something I should know about this drink, Orochi?" Kisara's words were practically dripping with accusation, but the older man merely shrugged them off and continued cleaning out another glass one handed.

"It's merely my own recipe, distilled about fifteen years ago," Kisara's eyebrows rose marginally, as she took a second to smell the dark brown whiskey, "It was a hobby of mine once, and I thought that I might serve it here in the guild, as a local specialty of sorts. Still not completely sold on the thought, Kisara motioned towards the glass in Orochi's hand firmly.

"I'll give it a try, as long as you do the same," Orochi nodded his head, and once again deftly filled another cup with the same amber whiskey as Kisara's. Holding his glass towards her, the old man gave Kisara a kind smile.

"Cheers," he said simply, to which Kisara answered in kind.

"Cheers," then both of them tipped back their glasses and drank. The scene between the two of them was one of incredibly sharp contrast, with Kisara's wild and free spirited appearance clashing against Orochi meticulously maintained appearance. Yet between the two of them existed the kind of atmosphere that only two drinking friends could share; a kind of solidarity that was very rare, yet also very powerful.

To Kisara, the amber liquid tasted faintly of vanilla, with an oddly familiar yet out of react secondary taste just behind the vanilla. With the question written on her face, she fixed Orochi with a puzzled look. The wizened older man shook his he negatively.

"I can't tell you the ingredients, so just enjoy it while it lasts. No glass will taste the same as that one," Kisara's face adopted a quizzical look in response to Orochi's strange phrasing.

"I thought that the idea was that no two barrels ever tasted the same," Orochi's lips cracked into a playful grin.

"As I said, enjoy it while it lasts," Kisara, still puzzled, slowly took down the rest of her drink. She savored each mouth full, as she tried to decipher the taste which seemed so familiar, yet remained so hard to distinguish. Before she knew it, the glass was empty, and the whiskey was already becoming nothing more then a lingering tingling on her lips. She turned back to Orochi, but the old man shook his head.

"Only one glass full. You can wait five years for the next one, can't you?" he probed. Without saying another word, Kisara rose from her chair, slid her glass over to Orochi and walk away from the bar. But as she did so, Orochi's sharp ears picked up the young mage's dangerous reply.

"If I'm still around, in any way," Orochi sighed and picked up the glass with a sad look on his face, as his old eyes watched the lightly clothed figure of Kisara vanished into the interior reaches of the guild building.

"No matter how deep your darkness is, young one, please never forget this: this is your home, and we are here for you, no matter what happens."

As she half walked, half climbed the steep and winding path up to the Lonely Castle, Jinx Akuma breathed with a slow, calm rhythm. The fifteen year old was the youngest 'active' member of the guild, given Ageha's ironclad rule that no one beneath fifteen could enter White Dullahan in a magician's capacity.

But that rule had been bent when Jinx had arrived at the Castle, worn out and grimy from several months of travel. In a surprising display of bending her own rules, Ageha had allowed Jinx to stay in the guild hall until her fifteenth birthday; and afterward the youngest member of White Dullahan had been recruited.

Today, Jinx had finished a request to find a lost kitten. Although the job may have sounded cut and dried, the little ball of fur had proved to be a very adventurous little scamp. Jinx paused her assent to take a rest on a nearby shelf of rock. The wind coming down the mountain caused her to involuntarily shiver, considering her light attire, a pair of black combat pants with a black tube top stylized with a menacing pair of demon eyes on the front and a pair of angel wings on the back, both colored bright red. On her feet were a pair of black and red boots that ended three inches beneath her knees. Having rested, Jinx hopped to her feet nimbly once again and made the rest of her way up to the first, heavy wooden gates that led into the Castle.

But before she could even lay a hand on the door, it opened form the inside to reveal the massive frame of Aslan Miles Kain. The smaller, white haired girl nimbly moved away from the heavy wooden door with a small squeak. Aslan immediately paused and looked down and smiled broadly as Jinx's tiny frame entered his vision. "I'm sorry, Jinx-chan, I didn't notice your presence." The smaller girl looked up at Aslan with an odd mixture of sadness and annoyance in her violet eyes.

"I was trying to hide my presence on purpose, Kain-San. As a part of my training." Jinx puffed up her developing chest for emphasis, but the motion only caused Aslan to lightly chuckle to himself. "Are you making fun of me?" Jinx's words came out with a mixed signal of slight anger and also, although suppressed, sadness. Aslan held up a hand in the motion meaning 'sorry' before he spoke back to the younger girl.

"No. It's just that you're such a serious and respectful child, even when you have every right to act your age, Jinx-chan." Aslan's lips broke into a warm smile as he gently patted the small, almost animal like girl on the top of her head. "It seems that I'm still not used to handeling youngsters like yourself." Jinx's cheeks puffed up as she pouted in response.

"But you don't seem to have any troubles with Tohka-san whatsoever." Aslan paused for a moment as he collected his though before he responded to Jinx, and he brought on of his great, calloused hands to his chin and scratched it as he pondered.

"Tohka is… A very special person to myself and the other Founders." He spoke slowly and deliberately, and Jinx hung on every word. "She was the first person that we recruited as a member of the guild, and she was also raised by the four of us like a daughter, after a sense." He looked down at Jinx, whose face revealed that she was entranced by his words. "She was the main reason we four distanced ourselves from the Magic Council and settled down here in Rindou, both for the sake of having a permanent place to keep the rain off of ourselves and to be able to properly raise Tohka." Jinx fixed Aslan with an inquisitive look.

"So she's the most important person in the guild to you four?" Aslan pondered Jinx's question for only a few moments before he responded.

"In a word, no. Every single member of our guild is like family too us, even if they're hard to handle at times." Aslan smiled brightly again to Jinx, and then began to make his way down the uneven mountain path to Rindou. Without even missing a beat, Jinx followed after him, her black and red clad figure matching stride with the brown and white clad Aslan, who merrily began to whistle a tune.

Below the mountains where the Lonely Castle sat lay the town of Rindou, a medium sized city of western-styled architecture that depended on the production of the mines and on the bounty collected from the Labyrinth Dungeon that lay beneath the town. Originally founded as a scam mining town, a small group of dedicated men and women had managed to strike several particularly rich veins of gold and silver within the mountains bowels, bringing forth a flood of wealth that expanded the town's size and rocketed its population from a mere two-hundred irregular miners and their families to well over ten-thousand.

After the boom years, the mining settled down to slower, yet dependable, profits that kept the town on the map. Somewhere during that time, a section of the town higher up the mountain discovered an extensive system of hot springs, which solidified the town's charm as on carved into the side of the mountains and offering some of the adventures, and luxuries, associated with said mountains. This in turn drew the attention of some of the more gentile members of society living in Crocus and the surrounding areas, which caused Rindou to develop into a fairly successful resort town.

Shortly after the resort boom, an ancient labyrinth was found deep within the mountains during an experimental mining procedure by one of the few remaining mining companies. With thoughts of treasure and prestige in their minds, droves of treasure hunters, mages and common people flooded into the labyrinth's depths, hopping to secure both a fortune and a name for themselves. Sadly, many of those who entered found themselves unable to deal with the complex traps and horrifically powerful monsters contained within the cold, dark corridors. There were many who became lost within, and others who were known to have perished.

Shortly after the short lived 'Dungeon Craze', the Magic Council moved heavily into the town and established a system to support those who desired to enter, acting as a force for peace in the town. Stories of corruption floated around for several years after that until finally coming to a head in X782, when the core founding group of White Dullahan arrived in Rindou and exposed the darker side of both the Magic Council and the town's resident dark guild, ironically an affiliate to the larger Endless Serpent guild.

With the majority of the Magic Council's elements from Rindou imprisoned along side the dark mages, Ageha Kurogane declared that from that day forth, White Dullahan would protect the townsfolk and their homes, from forces both within and from without.

Thus, the Dullahan's found a place to shelter themselves from the elements and also a home to call their own. In less then a year's time, in August of X783, White Dullahan opened its doors for any mage above the age of fifteen to join, provided they pass an exam distributed by Ageha herself and at least two of the three other founding guild members; Aslan Miles Kain, Orochi Kirimaru and Tristan Argent.

Ending A/N: And there, second chapter done in almost as many weeks.

Hello again, faithful, or maybe not so faithful, readers. Azrael-kun here. I'm really enjoying the writing process this time around for White Dullahan, and I must admit that, personally, this reboot was a good idea. The writing process feels significantly more natural for me this time around, and I do truly believe that I've captured the spirit that I wanted White Dullahan to have; a border line guild with a past stained with darkness, but now seeking penance.

All four original members of the guild were made by myself, and if you're wondering who 'Tohka' is, she's the lacrima encased girl from the prologue.

 **Tristan Argent:** Azrael DarkWings

 **Ageha Kurogane:** Azrael DarkWings

 **Orochi Kirimaru:** Azrael DarkWings

 **Aslan Miles Kain:** Azrael DarkWings

 **Tohka:** Azrael DarkWings

 **Kisara Bladefield:** Trappedindarkness13

 **Jinx Akuma:** Trappedindarkness13

 **Nero Anderson:** RavensWorld

A special thanks also goes to my beta, Dreadburner94, who has also just started another Fairy Tail Fanfic that takes place in Bosco. If you're interested, go over and check it out.

Well, that about wraps this chapter and A/N up, but now, a quick announcment.

As of right now, I have one new character who is going to appear in the next chapter, one that has been accepted but needs some work done on it and three more pending processing. I'd personally like to introduce around three characters per chapter, if at all possible, with two being my minimum limit.

I feel like the guild's purpose is starting to take shape, and the story is basically writing itself at this point. I'd like to keep this forward momentum going, and to do that, at least for the introduction arc, I need some more OCs to dig through and work with. So if any of you readers, with an actual **account** , want to send in an OC, just hop over to my profile page, take that lovely template sheet and get cracking. I hope to have another chapter out in the next one to two weeks, with one week being a very nice looking thing.

Anywho, thank you for reading, and see you again next time for White Dullahan, Chapter 2!


	3. Chapter 2: Of the Lazy and the Bold

A/N: Good day/night/evening/morning whatever it is for you magnificent people. Azrael-kun here once again to bring you to the world of Earthland and White Dullahan.

Man, I think I'm on a roll here for writing, and your reviews seem mostly positive, so I must be doing something right this time around.

I don't have much to say this time around, so for now, back to White Dullahan!

* * *

Chapter 2

Tuesday, March 2nd, X790, Rindou Town

* * *

Ken Lie was completely relaxed as he lat sprawled out full length on the dark green soft in his 1LDK apartment. The twenty-two year old mage was still in his sleeping wear, a simple pair of light blue pajama bottoms, and his light brown hair was a shaggy mess on top of his head. His almond shaped, dark brown eyes were half closed, as he lightly rested and basked in the warmth of the sun's rays. Across from his line of sight lay his ever near sword, Paragon, the source of many, if not all of the problems in the laziest mage's life. That sword had brought him nothing but trouble since he had picked it up years before, when he had been a rising star in the Rune Knights. But that was history. Now, separated from the world he once knew, Ken had found a place to call home, a place where he felt safe enough to sleep deeply when ever, and usually where ever, he wanted.

"Ken-san, are you in?" A tentative voice inquired from without. Ken remained silent, and hoped that the intruder would leave him alone. "Ken-san, I'm coming in." The playful tone of voice caused Ken's stress levels to rise, but he begrudgingly opened his eyes and pull himself to a seated position as the door nob turned.

"Hold it Tohka, I'm not presentable." The sound of a very cute, feminine squeak came from the other side of the door, along with a very loud thump. "That sounded painful," Ken said to himself, as he pulled on a lavender shirt with grey strips and switched his pajama pants for a pair of starched white dress pants and slid his already sock clad feet into a pair of clean, presentable white boots. To finish off his ensemble, Ken secured his pants with a pair of black leather belts, cinching them securely around his waist. As he did so, he inspected his right arm closly, "You can't even tell, can you?" He said to himself in a quiet voice. "The magical technology of the medicinal world never ceases to amaze, doesn't it?"

"It does." The athletic, yet strikingly feminine form of Tohka Minamoto appeared before Ken as he strapped his sword, Paragon, to his left hip. Tohka's 5'4" frame was slender, yet also had all of the right curves to make her turn heads when she walked down the streets of Rindou. Her dark purple eyes, snow white and shoulder blade length black hair gave her an aura of beauty and refinment that attracted people to her. But to those who knew her in the guild, she was the guild's most energetic personality. Her seemingly boundless energy could bring a smile to almost anyone's face at any given moment, and this was Tohka's natural state. She was like a friendly puppy, always trying to get close to someone. Ken sighed, and pulled himself to his full 5'11" before he gave Tohka a tender smile.

"I really wish you'd leave me in peace, Tohka," Ken said with a yawn. Tohka simply fixed Ken with an innocent smile as she floated towards the door.

"Sorry, Ken-san, but you've reached the limit of your inactivity days, and Master wants to keep you in the guild. So, as per regulations, I decided to come and get you to take a job." Ken snorted at Tohka's innocent words.

"Master's pet," he snarked at the girl, as she paused with her hand on the door.

"Master's pet?" She questioned, as she turned back to face Ken with an inquisitive look in her eyes. "What do you mean, Ken-san?" Ken's face remained unmoved, but inwardly he was surprised once more by Tohka's naivety.

 _'Seriously, kid?'_ He thought to himself. _'Just how innocent are you?'_ Due to Ken's non-response, Tohka decided that a more direct action was necessary. The girl snagged Ken's hand with the speed of a striking cobra and before he could even say a word, Tohka had pulled him through his own doorway, slammed his door heavily shut behind them and had led him out and into the active, colorful streets of Rindou. Not wanting to bother anyone else with her business, Tohka suddenly stopped short, uttered an almost silent chant, and then jumped upward, as she pulled Ken behind her. The normally slower paced Ken found himself once again completely at the mercy of White Dullahan's most impetuous member, Tohka Minamoto, the original member of the guild. With her white and black short sleeve and sport shorts clad body flying majestically, the younger girl carried Ken over the town of Rindou like a current carrying a leaf along, until she alighted on the cobblestone square outside of Rindou's town hall. Tohka turned slightly to her left and led the barely resistant Ken forward and to the left of the town hall's main door, where the General Board was placed.

"This is where we part ways, Ken-san." Tohka said with a slightly sad tone in her voice as she released her firm grip on Ken's hand. Then she turned to the still mage and gave him a bright smile. "I'm off!" With a crisp turn Tohka lowered her body by bending her knees and then propelled herself skyward once more, off and in the direction of White Dullahan's training grounds, where Ken knew that at least one of the founders would be ready to train anyone who wanted too be. As he realized that Tohka could have just brought him to the training grounds instead of the General Board, Ken groaned in a half-assed manner as he turned his attention to the board.

"Geez, can't people find their own pets?"

* * *

Tohka Minamoto canceled her magic and touched down gracefully on a flat, grass topped space of around fifty acres in size that lay in a shallow valley around a mile from the White Dullahan guild hall proper. This was the guild's Large Training Area, where member's with more destructive magics could train without worry of doing harm to any possible bystanders.

Besides Tohka, Jinx Akuma was training in another corner of the field, making use of one of the several structures designed for training. Jinx's area was shaped out of a series of ten by ten cubes lined up ten cubes long, three cubes high and five cubes wide; in a manner similar to rafters in a roof. Jinx lightly made her way through the maze-like series of routes within, sometimes doubling back when she found there was either no way to pass or a trap she could not disarm. Jinx's slender, athletic body was garbed in a simple white and black top and sport shorts similar to Tohka's, but she incorporated her usual fingerless gloves with reinforced knuckles and wore a pair of black boots to finish off her training gear.

As she flickered through the cubes, Jinx would occasionally pause and take a second look at the cube before her, as the traps that each space contained were designed to change in either minor or major ways, depending on the desired difficulty. For Jinx, the traps were based around challenging her three-dimensional maneuverability, primarily her motions in mid-air. The young mage preformed beautifully, bending her body at incredible angles just before she would have touched the traps, passing through each and every obstacle with a poise born from repeated trial and error.

But the person who caught Tohka's attention today was a young man with medium length green hair, who stood with a bow and several arrows embedded in the ground. With a silent step, Tohka made her way over to the archery range, as she watched Ryouga Obito test his bowstring tentatively before drawing it back to three quarters taut. The young mage paused for a moment, and for an instant the world went silent around him. Then Ryouga released his arrow, which streaked straight towards the target set up a healthy one hundred yards away. Suddenly, like a lightning storm, Ryouga burst into action, as he snatched up arrow after arrow and sent them towards the down wind targets, some of them with a traditional bulls-eye and others with a more human-like appearance. After he had consumed all of his arrows Ryouga made his way down the range and checked his results, as Tohka continued to silently follow after him. As Tohka watched silently, Ryouga removed each arrow from the targets making a quiet, vocal note to himself about the effect of each and every shot.

"You take your training very seriously don't you, Ryouga-kun," Tohka finally said, as she still stood directly behind the older man. As he maintained his composure, Ryouga turned around to look Tohka in the face with his sharp, bright gold eyes. The twenty year old maintained his composure perfectly, as if completely unruffled by Tohka's unannounced arrival.

"That's right, Tohka. I do take my training very seriously. So, next time," he said as he replaced his arrows in his quiver, "I'd be grateful if you didn't sneak up on my like that, it's not good for anyone's nerves," Tohka cocked her head questioningly in response.

"Really?" Tohka said, as Ryouga found himself unable to hold back his natural retort in time.

"Good Earthland Tohka, how much of an airhead are you?" the green haired mage scratched his hair underneath his green hooded sweatshirt. With a difference of four inches between them in height, Ryouga stood straight as the arrows he had just fired, dressed in blue shorts and white and orange running shoes to go along with his hoodie. With his quiver over his back, Ryouga gave off a natural air of aloofness and solitude, but it seemed that this was nowhere near enough to keep back the ever energetic and friendly Tohka.

"Airhead? What's that?" Tohka asked blankly, as Ryouga moved back up the range towards his standing position, as Tohka tagged along. The older mage couldn't resist rubbing his temples, as if to sooth a headache.

"I still don't understand how you fit into the founding members this guild," the green haired mage muttered to himself as he processed the known information on the other founders, "Master Kurogane is an incredibly talented swords woman whose techniques are regarded as some of the best in the whole of Fiore, while Kirimaru-san carries the moniker of the 'One Armed Blade Master.' As fair Kain-san-" As Ryouga's eyes unfocused and he slipped into a nearly uninteligable babling rant to himself, Tohka slipped was from the green haired mage and made her way over to Jinx, who had just finished her training with the cubes.

"Jinx, are you done training?" she asked as the smaller girl wiped her face with a damp town and took a long draw on a bottle of water before she responded with an affirmative nod, "Then do you want to train with me for a bit?" Jinx seemed to shrink slightly when Tohka looked her right in the face, but the smaller girl still nodded affirmatively. Tohka smiled broadly in return, and then the to of them made their way over to another section of the field, where several areas had been sectioned off specifically for sparing.

Beside the cubes, archery range and sparing grounds, there was an area on the fringe of the training field which had been set up specifically as a rifle range, a section dedicated to close quarters and indoor combat simulations, an area beyond the field arranged for guerrilla warfare and ambush tactics simulations and several other area dedicated to a variety of situations possible.

As the girls began sparing, Ryouga finally left his internal trance and found himself standing alone. With a sigh, he knocked himself lightly on the forehead, "Come on, me, don't keep being the guy who spaces out and talks to himself, what would dad say?" As he spoke again to himself, he drew back his bowstring once again and fired towards the targets, a frown creasing his lips as he saw it miss any of the possible targets, "Well would you look at that, I flipping missed."

* * *

A few hours later, Ryouga entered the guild hall after he had finished his training and had cleaned himself up. Having changed into another set of the same clothes as earlier, minus the quiver, the twenty year old mage moved over to the bar, where Orochi had been stationed earlier, but now Tristan Argent stood in her place. His long silver hair was tied back and way from his face and his tall, tightly muscled frame clothed in a pair of black pants and a clean, button up white shirt. Around Tristan's neck was a dark blue string tie that only added to the air of refinement around him.

"What can I get for you, customer?" the words were spoken in a professional manner that completely contrasted Tristan's normal manner, but Ryouga remained unruffled, as he had grown used to the sight, if only marginally.

"Do you have anything with a decent amount of protein? I just finished training," Tristan paused for a moment of thought, and then snapped his fingers as an idea came to him.

"If you can wait a little bit, I can fix you an omelet, on sale now for only some good conversation," Ryouga snorted a laugh at Tristan's words.

"How the heck can you stay open with such an easy mod-" Ryouga was cut short as his stomach growled loudly, which caused the normally calm and collected young mage to turn red at the ears. But Tristan merely smiled in return and started to crack four eggs into an iron skillet already coated in bacon grease, "Are you trying to fatten me up with that stuff?" Ryouga rumbled darkly, as he sucked away at an orange juice Tristan had passed to him.

"How did you guess? I wanted to rig the betting pool for the S-Class Exam in my favor a bit," At the words 'S-Class Exam' Ryouga fell silent and stared dumbly at Tristan, as the silver haired mage added a healthy portion of potatoes, tomatoes and ham to the already half cooked omelet.

"What?" Ryouga said in a tone of mixed awe and shock, "What did you just say?"

"I asked you if you wanted cheese to go with your omelet," Tristan replied offhandedly, as he flipped the omelet expertly and then added several strips of cheese to the cooked top of the omelet to melt, "Looks like I already added it," Ryouga's synapses finally connected with a bang and he began to babel as his thoughts out paced his mouth.

"S-Class… Exam? Master is going to hold an S Class Exam this year? When?" as he bit back his excitement, Ryouga leaned forward, his face an open book for Tristan to read at his leisure, "Argent-san, please explain yourself! You can't leave me hanging like this!" Ryouga's voice rose to nearly its breaking point as he spoke, but Tristan merely slide the green haired mage the promised omelet and stuck a fork in his hand.

"There you go," Tristan said with a sadistic grin, "We'll talk about the Exam after you finish your food," Ryouga could only stare Tristan in the face for a few seconds before he turned to the omelet and began to eat at a rapid, yet also well mannered, pace.

After the last bite of omelet had vanished from Ryouga's plate, Tristan took it from him and slide it over to the sink, where he began to clean it with a damp, soapy washcloth. Ryouga moved over a few seats and sat down in front of Tristan again, his face composed and focused on Tristan's. But the silver haired mage too his time to clean and dry both the plate and fork and then put them away in their cupboard before he returned to face Ryouga again, as he dried his hands on a dish towel.

"Now, what do you know about the S-Class Exam, Tristan?" Ryouga inquired with a sharp intensity in his eyes, although Tristan remained unruffled and smiled at the younger mage in return. The Tristan put the dish towel down and placed both of his hands on the bar top, as he leaned forward and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone.

"The S-Class Exams this time around are going to be preformed in the Labyrinth," the words would have sent shivers down the common man's spine, but to Ryouga they were electrifying. Instantly his mind was filled with the possibilities for the format of the S-Class Exams. Then his eyes narrowed slightly and he looked back at Tristan with a look of accusation in his eyes.

"Okay, two questions. One, why are you telling me this? And two, what do you mean by 'rigging the betting pool'?" Tristan brought his left hand up to his chin and slightly tilted his head to the right as he thought on the two questions, as a playful grin danced on the corners of his mouth.

"I'll be answering your questions in reverse, is that okay, Obito-kun?" Ryouga nodded his head silently, as he shuffled his thoughts to align properly with the format Tristan suggested, "Then I'll be frank, when we hold the S-Class Exams, we, the founders, hold a little wager to see who makes the cut into the S Class. Think of it as a way to spice up an otherwise boring event," Ryouga's lips turned down in response to Tristan's words.

"Boring? How could an S Class Exam be boring? Isn't it an opportunity to watch comrades face off in battle and learn more about your own members?" Tristan chuckled lightly at Ryouga's honest words, "What's so funny, Argent-san?" Tristan stopped chuckling and looked Ryouga in the eyes with an oddly intense look.

"You may not have known this before, but all of White Dullahan's S Class Exams are held in the Labyrinth. Every single one," Ryouga's train of thought was momentarily derailed, but he kept up a steady appearance and then shook his head to realign his thoughts before he spoke again.

"Why?" the one word that may have seemed out of place, but it was the best way to ask the question, as Ryouga considered his options. Tristan's dark blue eyes remained fixed on Ryouga as he took a single leaf of paper out of a drawer from behind the counter and laid it out before the younger mage. Ryouga's eyes widened as his brain registered the nature of the poster's request: subjugation of a Roaming Floormaster.

"That's the Exam's format, location of and elimination of a Roamer and coming back with proof. The other method involves waiting for someone else to eliminate the Roamer and then fighting the other mage. Either method works, as long as it's a fair and square battle." Tristan offered the dumbfounded Ryouga a grin, "I'll see you at the Exam, Obito-kun," Then Tristan walked towards the kitchen, where he would soon be joined by Aslan to prepare dinner for the evening, "Oh, and by the way," Ryouga looked up to see a devilish grin on Tristan's lips, "I was joking about the betting pool."

"You!" Ryouga shouted as he bolted upright, but he managed to tangle his legs up in his stool and crashed to the floor, which only caused Tristan to smile brighter in response.

"Please watch you footing, dear customer. We wouldn't want to injure ourselves before the Exams now, would we?"

* * *

Darkness had fallen hours before, and most of the members of White Dullahan had already either gone to bed in their dorm rooms or returned to their off site homes. Yet there was still light in the main dinning area, and the bar was now fully functioning in its other purpose; a late night dive for the old hands of the guild. Behind the bar stood Ageha Kurogane, dressed in a short blue and black robe like uniform that ended at her knees and elbows. With this she wore a pair of black spats that ended two inches above the knees, which left plenty of her long, porcelain white legs visible. On her feet were a pair of two toed obi socks and a pair of wooden geta sandals. As Ageha stood behind the bar, the main door to the guild hall opened and in strode a 6'1" tall, brown haired man with a beard of the same color. "Welcome back, Viktor," Ageha said, as she reached beneath the counter and lined up several bottles of assorted alcohol on the counter top.

"I'm back, Master," the man, Viktor Ryder, said as he took a seat at the bar and accepted the cup of dark colored brandy that Ageha passed him. Viktor took a small, tentative sip to taste the flavor, and was pleasantly surprised by the deep, rich taste he received, "Ah, another of Kirimaru's, I believe?" Ageha nodded in response, as she filled a cup with sake for herself before she took a toast.

"To another successful mission," Viktor shared the toast and then took another short drink before he placed his cup down on the table top, as a serious look clouded his face.

"Master, during my mission, I also came across more information pertaining to the Endless Serpent guild's activities," Ageha finished her sake without a response, but once the rice wine was gone, she put down her cup and turned to Viktor with a serious look in her eyes.

"A report then, S-Class Magician Viktor Ryder," Viktor left his chair and stood to attention, an old habit from his life long military background. Ageha took stock of the man before her, one of only two S Class mages in White Dullahan. With his imposing appearance and build, Viktor was one of the most rock steady members of the guild who Ageha had her complete faith in. Dressed in a charcoal colored battle dress uniform, Viktor looked every inch of the soldier he had been for the entirity of his adult life before he had joined White Dullahan. His uniform sleeves were rolled back to above his elbows, and on his hands he wore charcoal colored combat gloves that left his thumb, index and middle fingers uncovered. To top off his uniform he also wore a pair of combat boots the same color as his uniform.

"While I was unable to find any information pertaining to Raven Akuma, I was able to find a few more clues towards the identity of the T.T. from the Hargeon bust," Ageha's eyes perked up and her attention was completely captured by Viktor, who reached into his pocket and took out one of his signature, high end cigars. But before he could get his own lighter, Ageha had already lite the other end of it with a small flame from her finger tips. Viktor silently nodded his thanks and inhaled deeply, as he savored the flavor, "Thank you kindly."

"Your welcome," Ageha responded seriously, as she sat down on the counter top and crossed her legs one atop the other, left on top. "So, who's our mysterious 'benefactor'?" the word benefactor came out like a four letter word, but the harshness of Ageha's tone failed to ruffle the harden solder's exterior visibly. Viktor to a second, long drag on his cigar before he continued.

"Tralark Travellion, a figure who is thought to be some sort of information broker and long arm of the top management in the Serpents," the name rang no bells in Ageha's head, but she could clearly remember the mess that had once been Sullivan in the tunnels beneath the auction house.

"Did you find any other leads on this Travellion? Like where he operates from or who he works with anyone?" Viktor shook his head and then took another drag on his cigar.

"The bastard's as slippery as they come, and he's gotten himself out on more occasions then all of us have had hot dinners," said Viktor as he snuffed out the butt of his cigar and kept himself composed, "But know this, Master, this guy is the very worst kind of scum. I couldn't even begin to explain the sheer number of crimes he is believed to have his hands in, but I was able to find out that he was the one who brought Tohka to the auction that night, as per the orders of the big boss of the Serpents, known by the moniker of the 'Azure King'," Ageha's eyes marginally widened at the name, as a faint memory prickled at the back of her conscious mind.

"'Azure King'… When I was a part of the Serpents assassination corps, our highest authority was called the 'Crimson Bride'… The joke among our members was that our leader was the actual bride of someone higher up in the ranks," Viktor nodded slowly, as he processed Ageha's irregular revelation.

"I'd have to believe in that idea, Master, seeing as all other 'Master Classes' in that guild are called by a color and a title, at least that seems to be the pattern I've discovered so far," Viktor picked up his whiskey glass, which Ageha had preemptively refilled for him. He took a long drink, enjoying the rich liquor as much as he could in their situation, "Besides that, I'm afraid that nothing new has surfaced, and no movements on any large scale have been detected by any of our contacts," Ageha brought her left hand to her forehead as she sighed heavily.

"It sounds like we're going to have to take off more heads then we originally tallied, doesn't it?" the questioned was asked rhetorically, but Viktor nodded grimly all the same.

"Still, that's what I sighed on for, and I'll see our contract through to the bitter end, be it either in this world or the next," Ageha gave Viktor a smile in thanks, and then smiled even brighter as another figure entered the guild hall and neared the bar with a steady, confident gait.

"Welcome back, Lou. Everything go well?" The black haired, tan skinned Lou made her way to the bar with a swagger and sat herself down with the grace of a cat and flashed Ageha with her signature mischievous smirk.

"All is well, Master. Mission accomplished," Ageha's shoulders relaxed visibly, and she passed Lou, White Dullahan's other S-Class magician, a glass of the blue eyed mage's favorite beverage. With a toast to her guild master and fellow S Class, the twenty-seven year old drained her glass in one, long, smooth motion. Viktor sighed as he watched, and Lou only gave him another grin in exchange.

"You already know that I'm all but immune to alcohol of all kinds, Viktor. So, let a girl choose her style?" Lou said as Viktor only grunted in return and then turned away from the women with a measured pace.

"I'm finished here tonight, Master. I'll be here in the main building and around Rindou for the next few days. If anything comes up, don't hesitate to call me. Otherwise, I'm turning in for the night," Ageha thought to herself for a moment after Viktor had finished speaking, but nothing of importance came to mind.

"Dismissed for the night then, S-Class Viktor Ryder. Enjoy your rest, you've earned it." Viktor smiled with his back still to the two women and then made his way over to the first floor male dorm hallway and then vanished down it. After the two ceased to be able to hear the man's footsteps, Ageha filled Lou's cup again and then her own, as she took a seat next to the younger woman, "So, how did your subjugation go, Lou?" Ageha's natural concern for her caused Lou to smile faintly.

"As good as it could, a small time gang with habitual tendencies that a child could follow," Lou stretched back and cracked her back, which gave Ageha an eye full of her tanned, lithe body. Lou's attire consisted of a white, sleeveless crop top underneath a short leather jacket that fell to just beneath her compact breasts and also lacked a left sleeve. Along with this went a pair of well worn brown cargo pants that were tucked into her black leather boots and were held up by a white leather belt. The younger girl's hair was cut short on the sides but grew long on the top, front and back, and was drawn up into a high ponytail that fell down past her shoulder blades. On her left shoulder Lou's black guild mark was incorporated into a long, intricately made tribal tattoo that went all the way down her left arm.

"Good, I'm glad it all went well," Ageha retrieved a sealed envelope from behind the bar and handed it to Lou with a small flourish, "And here's your payment, cash on the barrel," Lou smiled as she accepted the money without even a thought of checking it.

"Thank you, Master," Lou said with a barely repressed yawn. With a teasing look in her eyes, Ageha took Lou's half full glass of rum and finished it herself, and then lifted the younger mage with a surprising level of ease that begot her own slender frame.

"Now it's off to bed with you, young one. We've got another big day tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: There we go, the third chapter. Man. This writing thing seems to be getting easier and easier this time around. I wonder why? Have my skills improved? Have I been highly motivated? Yes on both counts, but I think the biggest help this time around has to have been the new OC sheet that I'm using, thank to Dread for forwarding it to me. Also, you the readers have been very encouraging and helpful to.

And so, I'd like to say thank you.

Any ways, on a quick note, S Class positions are now filled by Lou and Viktor, so no more. S Class potentials would be nice to have. Or more characters period.

I need some more characters in order to begin working on the next chapter. Right now, I have one more character to work with on hand, although I can also flesh out the other characters too and expand more on Rindou itself as well.

Any who, thank you readers for coming around again, and I hope to have another chapter out in a week or two.

And a special thanks to the following OC makers.

 **Reven228** : Ken Lie

 **Dreadburner94** : Lou Cerny

 **Lagstabbing Devil** : Viktor Ryder

 _ **More mages needed, if the message was not clear.**_


	4. Chapter 3: The Troubles of the Serious

A/N: Welp, things are really starting to look up. I'm getting more and more positive that I've found a winning formula for the fic this time around, and people are actually talking to me properly over the chat function about their characters.

Honestly, after my royal blunder last time around, I'm just glad people are giving me the time of day/night. Anyways, onward and upward. Current guild member count, both shown and unshown, stands at 16. That's pretty good in my book. I have an estimated 2-4 who are still in production with their makers **Shoots a sharp look in the general direction**. But that's still short of the number I'd like to have. I'd like to have between 20-25 characters to work with, for a more diverse range of characters to work with.

Before I start this next chapter, I'm also going to throw out a statement that may draw some people's dander, but I've gotta say it here too; there will be no Male x Male or Female x Female ships in this story for any purpose besides a joke or for some comedic relief. I'm personally not a fan of Yaoi or Yuri, and I cannot make myself write it into this story which I plan to invest a good amount of time and creative energy into.

With that out of the way, please, keep sending in your characters. Many of these guys and gals are resonating with me, and that makes this story all the easier to write.

So with that being said, I, Azrael-kun, will take a back seat and open the door once more to the town of Rindou in central Fiore.

* * *

Chapter 3

Wednesday, March 3nd, X790, Rindou Town. Labyrinth.

The sun had just begun to rise in the east, but deep beneath the earth and several levels down within the Labyrinth, a pair of White Dullahan mages were already hard at work to wrap up what had been a long, yet profitable, job for both men. As they walked down one of the many corridors on the fourteenth floor, one of the men paused, and motioned for his partner to do the same.

"What's up?" the second man asked softly, as the first man retracted one of his magic, arrow shaped vectors from the corridor.

"I've found one of our little piggies, he's two rooms down on the right," the first man said as a cocky grin spread across his face, "After this one, we're done with this job, and I can get back to be dearest Louisa's home cooking instead of these instant rations we picked up before we went down here," Fredrick Arnold Keyes, Rick to his few friends and Louise, said as he puffed up his chest and preened like a bird of paradise, though his partner, Darren Ashvel, could only shake his honey blond hair and sigh. Rick fixed Darren with a withering glare, "Why are you shaking your head like that, Darren?"

"Where do you want me to even start, Rick? With the fact that you just made it sound like Louisa was your wife? The fact that you were the one who chose the rations this time around? Or that you were the one who let that 'little piggie' get away in the first place?" Darren's accusations were all sharp as swords, and they cut Rick to the quick, given that they were all too true. Yet the twenty-three year old mage simply brushed them aside with another cocky grin on his face, as he maintained his confident appearance. Rick merely brushed his black bangs out of his eyes and fixed the entry way before them with a firm look that projected his signature reckless resolve.

"That may be true, Darren, but I'm also the one who found our little piggie once again, thereby canceling my former oversight," Darren groaned as Rick continued, "And now my magnificent self, with your unnecessary backup shall finish this annoying job and once again return to the surface, where my dearest Louisa is awaiting me with bated breath!" Darren sighed as Rick charged into the entrance with a loud, high pitched battle cry.

"We are still talking about your blood related younger sister, right? Not some girl who has somehow managed to stick around with you, the biggest Siscon in all of Fiore, right?" Darren halfheartedly asked, as he followed after his headstrong partner. But his words fell on deaf ears, as Rick's attention had been refocused on the single orc left that the two needed to kill in order to fulfill their mission. Without even a moment of hesitation, Rick invoked his magic and grinned as a look of reckless abandon transformed him into the competent, if cocky, mage that Ren had grown to respect over their time as a pair.

"Vector Arrow!" as the words left his mouth, Rick molded his magic into a pair of red and black colored arrows with flashed towards the orc as silently as a pair of sharks towards a seal. As the pink skinned, fleshy bodied orc turned towards the sudden sounds with a decidedly sluggish move, the two arrows struck deep into its left shoulder, which caused the flabby orc to slam hard into the cold stone wall behind it, "Darren, you're up!"

Without as much as a moment of hesitation Darren propelled himself forward with the agility of a hare, and then with a sharp instep he positioned himself squarely in front of the orc's flabby, pink belly, "Meteor Fist!" he shouted out, his clenched right fist rocketing forward, imbued with his signature Gravity Magic. As his fist drove into the orc's stomach, Darren released his gathered magical energy, which caused it to burst outward and right on through the orc's body and to create a two inch deep cavity in the wall beyond the monster and blond haired, blue eyed mage. As the dust from the crushed damaged wall settled, Darren made a token effort to clean the mixture of stony dust and dark blue orc blood off of his black, button down shirt and jeans, "Geez, I even got some in my hair," he sighed, as he tossed his shoulder length, honey blond hair to clean it, "I guess a shower's going to be in order when we get back to the guild, or maybe a quick stop off at one of the hot springs."

"I hear you on that one, Darren," Rick said in response, as he went down on one knee and proceeded to cut off the orc's ears, as proof of their completion of the request, "After three days without taking a proper bath or shower, I'm sure that anything beats a sponge bath," Darren fixed Rick with an even look, taking in his buddy's flat 6' height and slender, yet nimble frame. By most female standards, Rick would easily turn 9 out of 10 heads on the street. Yet his personality more then made up for that. With his mildly arrogant approach to life, his constant habit of swaggering whenever he felt sure of himself and him extremely high level of a sister complex, Fredrick Arnold Keyes was going to take either some serious outside help, or an extremely devoted woman, to ever settle down. Dressed in a sharp, slate grey blazer over a dark red dress shirt with the top three buttons undone above a pair of black jeans and brown leather boots, Rick most assuredly had the air of a mage worth his salt, but came off more as a high class host from some popular night club, which both Darren and he had actually been a time or two in the past when no good jobs were available.

"Again, Rick, need I remind you that the reason for our taking three days for this fairly straight forward request is due to you scaring off any possible targets on the entire floor due to your carrying on like a mad man, what with your 'battle cries' and the like?" Once again, Rick flinched as his trusted friend and partner launched yet another verbal lance at him.

"I… Cannot refute your words," Darren allowed a knowing smile to play around the corners of his mouth as he took the a heavy, burlap bag from his camping pack and placed the orc's severed ears into it. Then, with a faintly solemn look on his face, he removed a four inch long, one inch in diameter canister from his pack and lightly tossed it over to Rick, as he situated the ear filled back into the outside pocket of his bag.

"Care to clean up that corpse so that we don't get called back here for a ghoul subjugation later?" Darren asked rhetorically, as Rick sighed and turned towards the hulking body, which ha already begun to smell of iron rich blood.

"I hate doing this, but it is standard Dungeon procedure since the Code was instituted, right?" as Rick injected some of his magic into the canister, Darren recited the section of the aforementioned Code.

"Undead prevention measure number three: completely immolate any and all monster corpses found or produced within the confines of the dungeon, so as to not allow for the off chance of causing an increase in the undead population. Violators will be fined and punished in proportion to the number, type and quality of the corpse flesh as seen fit by the prosecution lead."

* * *

Rindou Town Proper, the Twisted Horn Tavern

The Twisted Horn Tavern lay within a spiderweb-like maze of back alleyways and clean, clear watered canals that was drawn from the pristine white caps of the mountains via aqueduct in order to keep the town well supplied with the almost priceless fluid. "The reason for the construction of the aqueducts was due to the limited number of deep springs and natural, non-volcanic wells in the area. So around the time of Rindou's founding, some of the more daring members of the newborn town took it upon themselves to begin the monumental task of building an aqueduct to provide not only the townsfolk with fresh, convenient water, but also as a means of supplying the mines with a ready and stable source of water, as well as not jeopardizing their beloved hot springs. After a long, twenty year time of dangerous architecture and delicate maneuverings both up and down the mountain, the project bore fruit, and the town of Rindou flourished." Santiago Montero finished the medium length volume on Rindou's history and then casually added it to the tiny mountain of other books he had consumed that day. "A beautiful story, isn't it?" He asked the older gentleman who stood next to his table, with a faint grin on his lips.

"Yes, but the past cannot pay your tab for you, Santiago," Orochi Kirimaru sighed, as he passed a check over to a nearby waitress who whisked it off to the proprietor's office in order to have the money transferred within the day. "Would it kill you to take jobs more often? I've heard that you bill from the bookstores are also coming up due fairly soon." With a sigh Santiago ran his hands through his short, messy green mass of hair and looked at Orochi with his almond shaped, sky blue eyes.

"In all probability, there is always a chance of my death whenever and wherever flaming arrows are involved." The line was delivered with a solemn tone that Orochi was more then used to hearing from the younger man, a tone of voice that never matched up with Santiago's laid back appearance and passionate love of lazing about. Orochi sighed once again, and then motioned towards the pile of books with a minute movement of his head.

"So, anything related to your research today, or was there another sale at the old Cranny?" Santiago's eyes lite up as the conversation moved towards one of his few objects of pride, his books.

"I really lucked out this time, Orochi. I not only managed to get my hands on the book I just finished, 'The Early Days of Rindou,' but I also managed to finish off my collection of 'Anthologies of the Seasons.'" Orochi grinned faintly in response to the second set of books.

"If I might, would you let me borrow your newest ones? I'll loan you my copy of 'Nautical Warfare and the Evolution of Piracy.'" Santiago's eyes widened and a look similar to a hungry dog's when encountered by a steak flared up in his eyes.

"You, my fine gentleman, have a deal. Heck, for that one, I'd willingly lend you any **ten** books of mine at the drop of the hat! There were only a few copies ever printed of the original, and, if my memory serves me right, the author even formulated some of the charts and logs from the tales of several sailors and pirates across the period of the writing, right?" Orochi nodded, a slight grin on his lips.

"I just might take you up on that offer, if you're serious," Orochi said, as he began to arrange the mountain of books into a manageable pile for moving. Santiago moved to rise, but then grimaced and sat down hard, as a wave of nausea passed through his body. Orochi noticed Santiago's change in demeanor, and in a gesture of kindness moved all of the books into their separate bags with a deft efficiency that seemed to ignore the fact that he only had a single arm and hand to use.

"Sorry to make you do that..." Santiago said with a tired voice, as he messaged his back lightly and stood up. He accepted the bags of books that Orochi offered to him, but refrained to ask for the others that Orochi effortlessly carried on his left arm with the balance and poise of a seasoned butler. A light smile, warm and gentle, came to Orochi's face as he did so.

"I am not bothered at all, Santiago. You're both my guild mate and companion in the pursuit and consumption of literature, how could I leave you on your own when you need help?" Santiago's face was tinged with a faint crimson flush at Orochi's words, and with a sharp turn he made his way back towards the guild hall as his clean, white lab coat billowed out behind him.

"Geez, Orochi, you really are honest with your feelings, aren't you?"

* * *

About half an hour later, both Orochi and Santiago were in a private room of the White Dullahan guild's the medical clinic, where Orochi sat in a simple metal chair and waited as Santiago removed both his signature white lab coat and nondescript grey shirt to reveal his tanned back, where a number of scratch like marks appeared, as if some cruel cat had scratched him with purpose of care. Orochi moved to face Santiago's back to total the marks with a slow, methodical mental count.

"72?" Santiago asked quietly, as he had mentally tallied each and every single one of the marks as they had appeared on his body over the past few years of his life. Orochi sighed as he heard Santiago's words, and confirmed the number audibly as well.

"72 marks… So you've suffered seventy-two episodes in total now." The older man trailed off, as Santiago began to redress himself slowly. "So, what was it like this time?" Santiago paused, as his hands clutched his white lab coat. He then closed his eyes and, as Orochi could tell, began to mentally go through the last few moments of his copy.

"It was… A land slide… I'm not sure where it happened, but he… I? Got buried up to my waist in debris, and I think my right? no. My left leg, was crushed beyond repair." Orochi's face tightened, as Santiago continued, "But then a young voice called out for help, and I moved to assist." A faint, yet oddly ironic smile passed over Santiago's lips as he straightened his coat before he continued, "I found a young child, probably no older then four or five, next to the… Remains, of her mother and father..." Orochi laid his hand lightly on Santiago's shoulder, as the younger man's pain filled voice came to a stop.

"Did you get her to safety?" Orochi asked gently, to which Santiago nodded.

"I managed to boost the little on up to another group that was beyond the wreckage, but then the path beneath me crumbled away, and then my copy died. Probably from the landing after a good twenty story fall." Orochi said nothing in response, and then Santiago stood up, adjusted his coat and then picked up one of his many bags of books once again, as he turned to Orochi with an odd look half way between sadness and apology. "I'm going to bring these books back to my room and then I'm going to start organizing my copy's memories, and after that," Santiago sighed heavily, "I have to see if my copy passed away with any outstanding debts or assets I have to deal with." Orochi noted a familiar glint in Santiago's eyes at his usage of the word, 'assets.'

"Hoping for a windfall of some sort, are you?" The elder mage asked as an energetic grin spread across Santiago's lips.

"After my little spending spree today, I'm in need of some more funds to make it through the rest of this month." Orochi fixed Santiago with an inquizitive look.

"Why don't you just take a few jobs from the guild then?" Santiago shuddered and then responded with a pale face.

"Due to my ungodly poor fortune, I'd probably wind up on a job with Tristan hunting down the members of some dark organization, or spending a day with Touka gathering herbs." Orochi's face twisted with confusion.

"How would that be a bad thing?" He asked, as Santiago reached the door of the infirmary and answered as he passed through the door posts.

"Because, knowing those two, something would go horrifically against even my best laid plans."

* * *

Rindou Town Central Plaza, Locally called the 'Azure Heart'

In the central area of Rindou Town lay an area named the 'Azure Heart', a nearly continuous place of bustle and energetic activity. When the Town had been originally laid out, in the center of the town an octagonal space had been left untouched. Without any proper purpose originally planned, the area had, over time, developed into the main place for festivals, the Carnival, traveling merchant caravans and an almost endless variety of other events and people to reside.

Whenever 'nothing' was planned for the Azure Heart, the citizens of Rindou would set up temporary booths, open air tents and a variety of other short term booths that served as a place for both citizens and travelers to spend their time in peace.

It was in the northern section of the Azure Heart, in the shade of one of the many spreading trees, that Fang Dhurwa choose to allow herself to take her preplanned, thirty minute break from her far reaching, and almost too mechanical, schedule. The twenty year old mage was a relatively new member of white Dullahan, with almost one year under her belt as a member. Before White Dullahan, Fang had been a member of a dark guild in her home town of Essex Crossing, a low priority guild that had exerted a significant amount of power over the surrounding area due to the guild's prominence as one of the few properly function, large scale groups in the otherwise non-functioning area.

Fang herself had been relatively sheltered by her family and the community she had grown up in under Black Shuck's rule, but that naivety had been shatter once she grew old enough to use her own unique magic, a special form of molding magic that focused on healing, and the also the reversing of the body's natural healing process for offensive purposes.

With this, Fang was rapidly deployed by Black Shuck's guild master to consolidate the dark guilds control of the area. For the few years, Fang was used as a highly effective poster girl, with the healing side of her magic drawing people into the guild's fold with a devilish seduction. However, after the first few years had passed and Fang began to mature mentally, the young mage began to realize that Black Shuck's rule had a very vivid, horrific side that almost caused Fang to flee in the middle of the night. With her faith in the guild she had come to see as a home in tatters, Fang struggled for several months after the fact, as she tried to find an answer to the question of how to maintain her home, yet also keep her morals intact.

In the end, the answer she came to caused her a deep, painful wound to her heart, as she finally mustered up the courage to discretely contact the Magic Council and offered up both information on the guild and her own services as a spy within the organization. The Council was reluctant at first, as the area wasn't exactly an easy one to manage, and Black Shuck was not even listed on any of their watch lists. However, with the offer of a favor from the White Dullahan guild for a one off job, no questions asked, the Council moved in within hours of the mobilization of their forces. In less then an hours time of their arrival in Essex Crossing, the Black Shuck guild was shut down. With less then ten members escaping into the nearby swamps, the dark mages were arrested to a man where they stood. Fang remained out of sight, being unable to even think of facing her former guild mates.

It was at that moment that a hand was offered to her, with the promise of honest work and a roof over her head. That hand was attached to Ageha Kurogane, the master of the guild that had helped Fang gain the assistance of the Magic Council. Although she was reluctant to trust someone so soon after the loss of her home, the was something that drew the younger girl inexplicably towards Ageha, who gave Fang two promises.

One: "I will never betray you." Two: "You can always return to the guild, and we will protect you to our last breaths." With these two oaths, Fang Dhurwa became a member of White Dullahan, and she never regretted her choice.

"Okay, now, to get into the next chapter!" Fang's voice barely rose above a whisper, but it was full of her excitement over the book she held in her hands, 'A Voyage to the Starry Skies.' A new release to the market, the book's author was a rapidly rising star, and had already won more then a few rewards for their imaginative views of future technologies and vivid word pictures of the beauty of space and the stars found beyond Earthland's own sun.

A devout reader of the instructions manuals that most people found beneath themselves to peruse, Fang had, from an early age, found books to be an incredibly potent fascination to her. She loved to read, and had branched out from the newspaper scraps, old magazines and instructions manuals that had been available to her back in Essex Crossing to science fiction, a relatively new genre of literature that had, in the past four years, gained immense popularity among the younger folk of Fiore, and even some members of the older generation had fallen in love with the genre as well.

As she opened her book to the book marked chapter, Fang moved one of her shaggy, black bangs out of her yellow, animal like eyes with her left hand. The white White Dullahan guild mark on the back of her hand, which had been applied over her old Black Shuck's yellow guild mark, caught her attention as she did so. "Thank you, Master Kurogane, for a place to stay..." So saying, the young mage poured herself into her book, and was soon lost among the stars with the book's young protagonist.

* * *

In another corner of the Azure Heart, another Dullahan had just finished her business with one of the many temporary booths that sprouted up around the Heart, and was now beginning her trip back to the guild hall. Louisa Mae Keyes, the younger sister and object of her brother's, Fredrick Arnold Keyes', devotion, was a twelve year old, bright blue eyed, blonde haired girl who had more then a few bets ridding on her becoming a beauty when she grew up. Due to her kind nature and nearly angelic smile, more then a few boys had been spellbound by her at first sight.

But then came her elder brother, a full fledged mage of White Dullahan, and the biggest siscon in all of Fiore to boot. Any and all attempts of boys her own age to get along with her were met with the most childish, if serious, threats of grim futures, should any one of them ever succeed in becoming friends with his little sister.

However, for the past few days her brother, who Louisa cared for dearly, had been dungeon diving for the sake of generating money for the month's expenses. As they stood, their current finances would last them for the rest of the month, but their savings would have to take a hit. As such, Rick decided to go on a fairly high paying job with one of the guild members he was on good terms with, Darren Ashvel, and had dived into the labyrinth in search of orcs. By Louisa's estimation, the two would return to the guild after their mission tired, but in good spirits. Although Rick was the kind of man to act outside of anyone's most detailed plans, he was still a dependable magician; if his ego wasn't stoked to much.

With a quick, yet unhurried step, Louisa made her way through the people who surrounded her like a fish following a current, with a natural, graceful ease. With her tall for her age 4'11" height, white, sleeveless dress and matching sandals, Louisa's appearance really stood out wherever she went, and had also generated a fan club among the towns residents, with her brother serving as one of the highest ranking members that both adored her and protected her, as well as the other children of the town.

* * *

Closing A/N: First and foremost, sorry for the long delay. Life, such a fickle mistress she can be at times. Second, I'll be working on a monthly update for this story, if my school and work schedules will allow me too. Third, if any of you have stayed around for the ride, I sincerely thank you.

When it comes down to it, my personal challenge with writing comes from the fact that I have a difficult time with my mental, and at times physical, stamina. Now that I've gotten back into classes again, my life is going to be a delicate balance between that, work and other vital function.

However, this fanfic has become surprisingly important to me, and I'm going to be doing my best to keep on making more of this, so I hope you readers will keep coming back, and once again, sorry for the long wait.

Thanks to the following for their characters:

Liltimy: Fredrick Arnold Keyes and Louisa Mae Keyes

Zades: Darren Ashvel

Vulkodlak: Fang Dhurwa

I don't much to say this time, but next time, expect for another part of the main antagonist faction to appear, and for a few more new characters to show up as well.

P.S. OC submissions for White Dullahan proper are now closed, but I could use villains and other supporting characters, so feel free to follow the submissions sheet on my profile and send them my way.

Mataou, shoukun.


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